Lucianne says: Rumor has it that our most famous [that was crossed out, don't know how to html it] infamous Attorney General is getting ready to challenge Dubya's brother Jeb for the Governorship of Florida. She's proved that she's good at applying heat, but maybe she should iron out her own wrinkles before she takes on a state full of Cubans who still remember Waco and the kidnapping of Elian at submachine gun point.

Miami Herald

Published Saturday, September 1, 2001

Reno likely in race Tuesday

`Some people think that. I may.'

BY TYLER BRIDGES, PETER WALLSTEN AND BETH REINHARD tbridges@herald.com

Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno is planning to become a candidate for governor Tuesday with a low-key announcement that she is opening an account that allows her to begin raising money for the campaign, sources close to Reno said Friday.

She will save the more formal campaign announcement -- typically done with fanfare before a bank of television cameras and reporters -- until later this year, after she has hired senior campaign staff and become better acquainted with the issues, the sources said.

Asked in an interview whether Tuesday was the day, Reno said, ``Some people think that. I may. I haven't made up my mind yet.''

She added, ``If I open a campaign account, that will mean I'm running.''

Once able to begin raising money, Reno said, ``I would build an organization and develop appropriate statements on the positions. To date, I've tried to listen to people and make judgments about what are the issues.''

While most of the other candidates travel with at least one aide, Reno has been touring Florida alone, often at the wheel of her red Ford Ranger pickup truck.

On Friday, Reno drove south from Gainesville -- where she had appeared with other candidates at a Democratic dinner the night before -- to downtown Fort Lauderdale where she spoke to attorneys at the Broward County public defenders office.

Arriving a few minutes late, she walked up to the microphone and started discussing her potential campaign, not bothering with chitchat.

Reno spoke so low that the attorneys sitting in the back of the room could hardly hear her. But instead of tuning out or chatting, they craned their necks forward and strained their ears.

``I have never heard our office so quiet,'' Chief Assistant Public Defender Howard Finkelstein said afterward.

Reno was discussing the need for an independent judiciary when one attorney yelled out, ``I think the real question is: Can you beat Jeb?''

``I won't run unless I think I can win,'' Reno replied. ``That doesn't mean it won't be a close race.''

Early polls show Reno swamping the other Democratic candidates in next September's primary but losing to Gov. Jeb Bush in the general election.

Many Republicans privately express hope that Reno runs, believing that the controversies she endured during eight years as the country's highest law enforcement official -- the assault on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco and the failure of the Justice Department to more aggressively prosecute big contributors to President Clinton's reelection campaign, to name two -- would keep Reno on the defensive throughout a campaign against Bush.

Reno dismissed the view that she would lose to Bush, arguing that she is a unique candidate and that surveys don't accurately capture her following.

While her potential opponents arrived with campaign staffers and strategists in tow to the Democratic dinner at the University of Florida Thursday night, Reno was accompanied only by an old friend. As she stood cradling her purse in the UF student union, some 200 people lined up to greet her.

The other candidates -- U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, former Ambassador to Vietnam Pete Peterson, state Rep. Lois Frankel, attorney Bill McBride and gay rights activist Bob Kunst -- walked around practically unnoticed.

When she spoke, Reno received two standing ovations, and the continuous clatter of silverware against dinner plates ceased only during her five-minute presentation.

No one was mentioning Peterson Friday when Reno spoke to the public defenders.

``There's something very special about her,'' Finkelstein said. ``She's the first candidate that really turns me on.''

-- Anonymous, September 02, 2001

Answers

Miami Herald

Published Sunday, September 2, 2001

With each speech, Reno unveils her vision for Florida

`We have got to beat Jeb Bush,' Reno tells Democrats.

PETER WALLSTEN AND TYLER BRIDGES pwallsten@herald.com

GAINESVILLE -- In a ballroom packed with Democratic Party loyalists Thursday night, Janet Reno spoke about her Florida. She recalled boating down the Suwannee River, diving in the Keys, watching a brilliant Marco Island sunset.

``I love this state with all my heart and soul,'' she said. Then, as the party faithful waited in rapt silence, Reno added: ``We have got to beat Jeb Bush.''

The crowd of hundreds roared its approval, and during the next few minutes Reno offered a glimpse of the themes that would probably drive her campaign to oust the state's popular Republican governor.

Although she is not expected to open a campaign account until Tuesday and has been coy about her plans, Reno has spent weeks touring the state, offering a firmly Democratic vision for the state's future.

In speeches and interviews, the nation's first female attorney general has talked about revamping the state's education system to eliminate the new reliance on testing, guarding its environment, protecting its elderly and children, and limiting growth so ``it doesn't take two hours to drive from downtown Miami out to Kendall.''

For a woman most Americans know only as the nation's chief law enforcement officer -- consumed with the custody of Elián González, taking responsibility for the disastrous siege in Waco, Texas, and weighing the appointments of independent counsels -- this is the introduction of a new political leader.

She has held only one elected office, as Dade County's state attorney. And she has been away from Florida for eight years.

But months after her return from Washington, Reno is already drawing sharp contrasts between herself and the man she could unseat, pointing directly and indirectly to some of the most hotly debated aspects of his record.

In her speech Thursday, Reno did not specifically mention Bush's rollback of affirmative action programs in state universities or resentment among black voters since last year's presidential election. But she signaled that blacks, her party's most important base and a group that was not enthusiastic about Democratic nominee Buddy MacKay in 1998, will be critical in her campaign.

``Let us make sure that that young, 18-year-old black lad is raised with a sense that he is somebody,'' she said.

In an interview, Reno said she does not yet have a specific critique of the governor's One Florida plan -- which eliminated enrollment programs that took race into account in state colleges and universities -- but she does support affirmative action programs ``when they are done right.''

`It's possible to provide for affirmative action without sacrificing merit,'' she said. On protecting the Everglades, Reno suggested that Bush could be more vigorous in pursuing preservation programs. In general, Reno called on the state to do a better job guarding ``the mosaics of our environment'' -- the beaches, rivers and wetlands.

Reno will also probably attack Bush for his initiatives to seize more power in appointing state judges. She told public defenders in Broward County on Friday that ensuring an independent judiciary is ``one of the reasons I started considering the possibility of running for governor.''

EDUCATION CONCERNS

On education, Reno, like her potential Democratic opponents, is most critical of Bush's reliance on student testing to judge schools. She talks often about class size, teacher pay, early childhood education and school safety.

``We must make sure that all public schools in this county are excellent, and we must not siphon away any money from public schools for private schools,'' she told a mostly Haitian-American crowd in North Miami on Saturday night. ``We must not just focus on FCAT tests, but what's important to make students competitive in the world. And we must attract the best teachers and pay them good wages.''

She speaks often of working with police agencies, teachers and parents to make schools more secure and comfortable for students.

Reno frequently mentions domestic violence. She urged the Gainesville audience not to forget a woman who ``is a victim of domestic violence, nor her children who will only watch violence recycled through their lives.''

Florida's massive elderly population seems to factor into Reno's philosophies as a candidate, as well. She talks about looking for ways to let seniors live at home rather than in nursing homes, and told her audience Thursday to ``make sure we take care of that fragile elderly person who is sick from abuse and neglect, and never let it happen again.''

Perhaps the issue that most separates Reno from the pack, Democrat and Republican alike, is the death penalty. She opposes it, putting her at odds with the majority of Floridians. Reno said that as Dade state attorney, she sought the death penalty in some cases, saying it was ``a moral dilemma.''

If Reno enters the race, polls have shown she would likely easily win the Democratic nomination against a potentially crowded field of respected candidates, including former Ambassador to Vietnam Pete Peterson of the Panhandle, Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox, U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa, state Sen. Daryl Jones of Miami and state Rep. Lois Frankel of West Palm Beach.

CALLED TOO LIBERAL

But some in the party's establishment say Reno is too liberal and too controversial, and would stand little chance of defeating Bush in a general election. They fear a campaign in which Republicans, and perhaps even her Democratic rivals, would focus on her record as attorney general, including the bloody siege of the Branch Davidian compound at Waco.

Peterson, a Vietnam War POW who is considered a centrist, did not focus on issues during his speech at the same Democratic fundraiser in Gainesville at which Reno spoke Thursday. Instead, he chose to tout himself as the only Democrat with the credentials to win support from conservative and moderate swing voters. He did not mention Reno by name, but Peterson aides clearly see her as their man's biggest obstacle to the nomination.

``While I have enormous respect for my colleagues here tonight, I am the person who can send Jeb Bush into retirement,'' Peterson said.

Davis, another centrist who some party leaders say would be more viable against Bush than Reno, acknowledged in an interview that having Reno in the race would impede other Democrats from getting voters' attention.

``It just makes it harder for me to get my message out,'' he said.

Republicans, however, relish the prospect of a Reno candidacy, largely because they believe they can pin her to the Clinton administration and paint her as a liberal.

``The biggest issue is that Janet Reno, far more so than the other Democrats in the race, typifies the fundamental differences between what it means to be a Republican and what it means to be a Democrat,'' said Tom Slade, the former chairman of Florida's Republican Party.

Of a Peterson-Bush race, Slade said, ``The issue contrasts would not be quite as keen.

``I say a little prayer for Janet Reno every night.''

Reno's best appeal, one old Republican friend said last week, is her ability to charm an audience with a warm touch and a soft voice. She also can be funny, appearing once last year on a network TV program that frequently satirized her.

``In the last few days I've been alternately described as the 800-pound gorilla, a sad, slightly mad old lady that should rock in her chair, the sponsor of a teeny-bopper dance club on a program called Saturday Night Live,'' she told the Gainesville crowd. ``What you see, ladies and gentlemen, is what you get.''

-- Anonymous, September 03, 2001

Times

Reno seeks revenge on Bush brother in Florida

FROM ROLAND WATSON IN WASHINGTON

BILL CLINTON’s former chief law officer, Janet Reno, is expected today to begin the Democrats’ revenge for their defeat by President Bush by announcing her intention to unseat his brother as Governor of Florida.

Ms Reno will be the biggest name on a list of Democrat hopefuls aiming to seize control from Jeb Bush of the state that handed his elder brother the keys to the Oval Office by the smallest of majorities. Her decision sets the scene for a heavyweight clash when Americans vote in congressional and state elections in the autumn of next year.

The prospect of her candidature is worrying some local Democrat leaders, who fear that her record as the first woman Attorney-General will bring unwanted Clintonite baggage to the contest.

Ms Reno heavily outscores her Democrat rivals on name recognition, according to the latest polls in Florida, but such a lead is double-edged. She is vilified among the large Cuban population for her role in the fate of Elián González, the six-year-old shipwrecked refugee who was caught in a custody dispute between his father in Cuba and his Miami relatives. Ms Reno’s decision to authorise a raid on their house and send the boy back to Cuba was taken in the teeth of aggressive opposition from the Hispanic population.

She is also remembered across the nation for ordering the catastrophic assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in 1993. Such episodes have some local Republican leaders keenly awaiting a Reno candidature. They point to polls taken in August that suggest that she could expect to secure the Democratic nomination, but would lose to Governor Bush, despite a slide in his popularity.

Before she can concentrate on an electoral battle with Mr Bush, Ms Reno, 63, has the Democratic primary to negotiate. Other likely contenders include Peter Paterson, a former congressman and former US Ambassador to Vietnam, a country where he was a prisoner of war.

Ms Reno, who was a state attorney for Miami-Dade County for 15 years before serving throughout Mr Clinton’s presidency, has to persuade voters over two psychological hurdles — her gender and her suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Florida has never had a woman Governor. Her Parkinson’s disease was diagnosed six years ago, but Ms Reno says that her doctor has said that she is fit to run.

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001

I'm perplexed that she's being taken seriously as a candidate. Were I a party chair, I'd have serious reservations about her health. Is there, perhaps, her second who "they" really want in power? But they have to get this person into power via the back door, that is, making sure Reno dies while in office? You're right, OG, this is becoming an interesting situation to watch.

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001

Last November, Jack Thompson (attorney, occasional commentator for NewsMax, and losing opponent to Reno for Florida AG if I remember) was spreading the story that during that campaign Thompson wanted to overhaul the balloting method in Florida, but Reno would have none of it. I wonder (hoping, actually!) if this issue will come up during this campaign.

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001

Hmm, interesting idea, Brooks. Meemur, I don't know what's going on here but my nose tells me it's something we don't know yet. If I were 65, had Parkinson's and a nice retirement package, I think I would relax a bit, certainly not run for office. What's wrong with picking up nice chunks of change on the speech circuit--Clinton's doing all right. Of course, if I wanted to prove to the Cuban-Americans and their supporters that I was right about Elian and/or show them more people like me than there are Cuban-Americans, and if I wanted to prove to the wackos that I was right abotu Waco, well, then I would probably run to prove my point. But neither is a good reason to run. Barefoot, you got any input, she said, knowing damn well he does.

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001

[And here's the view of the other side, courtesy of the Washington Post--the paper without a dictionary ;)]

'Reno for Gov.' Has Media Ready to Pounce

By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, September 4, 2001; 8:56 AM

You could write the 30-second ad yourself in less than 30 seconds:

"Waco, Texas – she orders the attack that killed more than 80 people.

"Miami – she has gun-toting federal agents seize helpless little Elian Gonzalez and return him to Cuba.

"Washington, D.C. – in the face of illegal Clinton-Gore fundraising, she decides no special prosecutor is needed.

"Janet Reno: Now she wants to do for Florida what she's done for the Justice Department."

But despite the considerable baggage that Reno brings to a race for Florida governor, which she's slated to announce today, there are undeniable strengths. She has the stature (none of the other Democratic wannabes has a national reputation) to take on Jeb Bush. She'll have no problem raising big bucks. She has a strong base as a longtime Miami prosecutor (though she's unlikely to draw a big Cuban vote). And she has seemed in recent weeks to be a better politician than was often suggested by her awkward press conferences and interviews as attorney general.

Yesterday, for example, Reno and her straw hat were all over the networks as she met with picnicking Floridians and said she was close to a decision on the 2002 race – a tease that stretched out her news coverage over the holiday weekend. Meanwhile, the usual unnamed sources, undoubtedly with her approval, were telling reporters that she'll give the green light today.

And the governor's strategists are taking Reno seriously, figuring that she'll seem a much more formidable figure if she wins the nomination a year from now.

News organizations, naturally, are thrilled at the prospect of covering a race between Bill Clinton's attorney general and the president's brother, the man who presided over the hanging-chad recount that handed W. the White House. The sheer influx of reporters should boost the Florida economy and make up for the tourism dollars lost by all the sensational coverage of shark attacks.

The New York Times gets the word: "After months of speculation about her political intentions, Janet Reno is expected to announce on Tuesday that she is entering the race for Florida governor, a longtime friend and business associate who has been assisting her in the decision making said tonight.

"That means Ms. Reno will be seeking to unseat the president's brother Jeb Bush when he is up for re-election next year. 'She has made up her mind and is at peace with herself,' said the associate, Susan Vodicka, speaking at Ms. Reno's request.

The Miami Herald says the buzz is huge: "Reno spent much of Monday handling the media onslaught that her campaign announcement has generated, getting calls even from BBC Radio in London. CNN led its political show with news of her gubernatorial bid. . . .

"With five television cameras clustered around her, Reno shook hands, posed for photos and discussed issues informally with picnickers. Reno told anyone who asked – and lots did – that she hadn't made up her mind about whether to run. But three hours later her spokeswoman, Julie Simon, called reporters to say she would be officially in the race as of today. Reno later confirmed it personally."

The Washington Post is in full handicapping mode: "Reno, who served eight years in former president Bill Clinton's Cabinet, has been exploring a candidacy for several months, testing voter reaction on everything from her decision to return Elian Gonzalez to Cuba to whether her Parkinson's disease is seen as disqualifying in her ability to serve as governor.

"Reno's high-profile status in Florida would make her an immediate frontrunner in the Democratic primary. But recent polls have shown that she may have trouble defeating Bush, whose active, behind-the-scenes involvement in the recount battle that gave his brother the presidency last year makes him one of the leading Democratic targets in 2002. . . .

"Democrats still seething over the presidential recount that they believe unfairly cost Al Gore the state and the presidency want to make Bush pay for what happened. Already they are gearing up to raise considerable money for the state Democratic Party to help their nominee deny Bush a second term. . . .

"Democratic leaders view her candidacy with mixed emotions. They recognize that her near-celebrity status will make her a dominant candidate, particularly in the early stages of the Democratic race. Reno's appearances throughout the summer have attracted strong support from many Floridians, who have said they admire her independence and straight talk. But Democratic leaders fear that she carries enough baggage from her days as attorney general that she, not Bush, could become the issue if she is the nominee."

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001